The open Secret of Toyota s Change

4.11 - 1251 ratings - Source

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: This Master thesis explores the organisational change, as performed by Toyota after World War II which, within decades, made this company the most successful automobile producer in the world and a model of corporate governance. Since the Toyota Production System (TPS) was born and continuously developed, it gave such a boost of productivity to the Japanese automobile industry that soon it was copied all over the world. The details of this system, which is to a huge amount based on practical experience and which requires a huge amount of preparatory work, are sufficiently known within the industry. Nevertheless, other Japanese companies and, in particular, international companies fail to catch up with Toyota. The question is, why? Quite a number of car manufacturers already produce according to lean principles, as the TPS instruments are sometimes called, quite successfully, as it seems, and nevertheless they lag behind the performance of Toyota. A highly saturated North American and European automobile market requires thorough change, since companies, due to an increasing global competition, need to undergo some kind of change to survive in the market. Experts assume further consolidation among Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) until 2010. Although everything seems to be known about TPS, there is obviously a remainder, because otherwise there would be more Toyotas than just one. There must be something in TPS that has not been identified or has been left out so far by the majority of OEMs all over the world. (Judging from the current competition in the automotive industry, it is more likely that this something has been unintentionally ignored). This is the case although the whole system, without any restrictions, is made accessible to competitors and anyone interested in TPS. Obviously, the knowledge of this mostly missing aspect or link in TPS is restricted, because in the current situation in the automotive industry no company can afford giving away any chances. This master thesis aims at identifying and preparing the above mentioned, apparently hidden or unintentionally ignored, aspects of the Toyota Production System (TPS) which make Toyota more successful than other car makers. Problem definition: Although everything seems to be known about TPS, there is obviously a remainder, because otherwise there would be more Toyotas than just one. There must be something in TPS that has not been identified or has been left out so far by the majority of OEMs all over the world. (Judging from the current competition in the automotive industry, it is more likely that this something has been unintentionally ignored). This is the case although the whole system, without any restrictions, is made accessible to competitors and anyone interested in TPS. Obviously, the knowledge of this mostly missing aspect or link in TPS is restricted, because in the current situation in the automotive industry no company can afford giving away any chances. Objective: This master thesis aims at identifying and preparing the above mentioned, apparently hidden or unintentionally ignored, aspects of the Toyota Production System (TPS) which make Toyota more successful than other car makers. The main objective consists of the collection of data and information from literature that hint at Toyota s open secret ; subordinate targets will be the backing of the gained information by a suitable analysis. Methodology: A deductive approach has been selected. Due to the enormous amount of information it was not possible to evaluate all sources that are available on the subject. This work provides hypotheses on why Toyota has such a lead over its competition. Four hypotheses were selected after an initial literature research aiming to identify well known German automobile manufacturers who produce according to lean principles (that are derived from the TPS). Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: 1.Introduction6 1.1Background6 1.2Problem definition7 1.3Objective7 1.4Methodology7 1.5Determination leads to longlasting success22 1.6Preliminary results28 1.7Directed backing information28 1.8Utility analysis37 2.Results and Conclusion40 3.Outlook42 Textprobe:Text Sample: Chapter 1.7, Directed backing information: Two further key sources were consulted at this stage of the work to back up the suggestion that has been made at the end of the chapter containing the preliminary results. Explicit information on corporate culture at Toyota and its effects were searched for. One of the sources is an up to date case study on the corporate culture of the Toyota Motor Corporation, the other one an interview with an expert in the automobile industry. The latter has furthermore conducted an evaluation of German carmaking companies and a first global analysis of the forthcoming developments in the industry, which suggest further consolidation. According to this source, symptoms of a structural crisis in the worldwide automobile industry are increasing. But instead of improving internal processes, competitors are trying to occupy every single niche by rapidly extending their own palette of models and motors, thus creating global production capacities far beyond demand. At the same time, a competition in sales discounts beats down prices. This development is supposed to affect all kinds of vendors, even premium car makers. At the moment, mostly cost saving programs and concepts are installed as a corrective. Sackmann, the case study s author and expert in the fields of corporate culture, organisational diagnosis and change management as well as intercultural management, has recently analysed Toyota and sees an interesting combination of corporate strategy, corporate governance and corporate culture here. Already in the introduction of the study the first key statement - and in a way one sentence resumee of the study - appears: Diese Fallstudie versucht, (...) einen Einblick in die zugrunde liegende Unternehmenskultur, den Toyota Way, zu geben, der nach Aussagen von Toyota-FA¼hrungskrAcften der eigentliche Kern des kontinuierlichen Erfolgs der Toyota Motor Corporation ist. Historic circumstances that have influenced the company are appreciated, the key figures of Toyota today are displayed and the central elements of Toyota s corporate culture are presented. According to Sackmann s research, the lived corporate culture of Toyota can be characterised by ten aspects that will not be repeated here all in all. It is remarkable that today s principles of Toyota go back to a historic event in 1950, a trike whose catalyst was a drastic cut in form of large lay-offs. Experiences during that strike have led to a corporate philosophy based on joint trust and mutual dependency.52 First this philosophy was inherent but later the need to codify it arose as the company grew and new employees joined Toyota. Sackmann writes: Das kollektive Denken und Handeln der Toyota-Mitarbeiter und -FA¼hrungskrAcfte wird durch eine Reihe Aberzeugungen, GrundsActze oder Prinzipien gesteuert, die den Toyota Way ausmachen und der als Nervensystem der Toyota-Organisationen betrachtet wird. Neither management nor other people pay lip service to the principles that are taught carefully within Toyota. Obviously, the company manages to introduce new members of the Toyota Motor Corporation to the dear held principles and to convince the former that the latter are beneficial. The management style can be described by coaching and mentoring , says Sackmann. No pressure is imposed on the individual but rather open questions are posed, e. g. when people are to acquire new skills. Sackmann reports an example of a fax that had to be sent to a customer and which took the respective employee three hours to write it in the sense of the management.53 The supervisor could have dictated the text but then the employee would not have learnt anything. Acting in this way requires trust between management and staff which has to be earned through joint experience and which is the basis for a common goal: developing the company, for the benefit of all. Specific and detailed knowledge is developed within the company, in line with the axiom of acquiring a deep understanding of a whole process. By this, detailed information is available, which enables a higher vertical range of manufacture and mainly an inner growth. This detailed information is gathered, among other things, by a method called genchi enbutsu which means going to the basis regularly, staying in touch with the employees and thus getting one s own idea of problems and situations . This is a trait of leadership by role model, as it is practised at Toyota. By this, employees feel they and their working situation are taken seriously. Because the strategy is communicated openly, clearly and because it embraces a long period of time as well as short-term goals the company is able to give its employees a feeling of belonging. Toyota chooses only the best employees within the industry, even if they are only working at the assembly line. The company provides its staff with extraordinary payment and cares for an adequate development of people with the help of a sophisticated training and mentoring program.... Subaru 4, 4 1 Honda 4, 5 1 Subaru 4, 6 2 Honda 4, 3 2 Subaru 4, 5 2 Opel 4, 5 3
Toyota 4, 3 3 Toyota 4, 4 3 Honda 4, 4 4 Mazda 4, 3 4 Opel 4, 3 ... 2, 4 Mittelwert 3, 5
Mittelwert 3, 4 Mittelwert 3, 6 DSIAr2003 DSIAr2004 DSIAr2005 Figure 2: Dealer
Satisfaction Index (DSI) 2003 - 2005, ... If the companies in focus were as
determined as the TPS suggests and fulfilled the quality ideal of azero problemsa,
middle-rateanbsp;...

Title

:

The open Secret of Toyota s Change

Author

:

Doris Kermer

Publisher

:

diplom.de - 2007-08-30

ISBN-13

:

You must register with us as either a Registered User before you can Download this Book. You'll be greeted by a simple sign-up page.

Once you have finished the sign-up process, you will be redirected to your download Book page.